This past weekend we had a great ride on, what is for us, a new trail - the Kanawha Trace trail. Technically speaking I've ridden a small portion of it before but the vast majority of this trail was very new to me. Four of us went out: Ed, Mike, Gilbert and I. Ed acted as our guide and leader because not only is he better at this sport than we are but he has also ridden this trail a bunch of times already. There were some serious uphills on this trail that basically left us all hiking our bikes but, for the most part, I found the ride to be both exhilarating and exhausting. At points my legs were just wasted with fatigue but it felt great to push myself harder than I have in the past and to know that I'm getting stronger and that my endurance is improving.
At one point we encountered a small downhill that had a log (about 6-12" in diameter) across the path so Mike got out his camera to film us crossing it. I go first in the video and Mike is filming. Ed had already gone ahead. While I don't want to specifically name the other person in the video I'm sure you can do the math.
If you watch the movie again you'll notice I almost make the same mistake; my back tire pops up in the air and stays there for a moment as I ride away. Had my weight been shifted any further forward I would, undoubtedly, have crashed with less recovery. I did crash a few times on this ride mostly while going uphill and trying to navigate a switch back but, thankfully, mike didn't have the camera out for those. Here's a video of Mike crossing the same log.
Some day I hope to have a helmet mounted camera so I can show you what it's like on the trail. I have one on my wishlist but it is pretty pricey so I'm going to keep looking until I can find a more affordable option.